About Fred

FRED pr. \frəd\

FRED is the radio for anyone who is passionate about cinema.

FRED (acronym for Film Radio Entertainment & Dialogue) is a multi-channel internet radio station targeted at all those who love independent cinema and gravitate around the world of film festivals: filmmakers, film critics, journalists specializing in cinema, film students, festival organizers and film industry workers (producers, distributors, sales agents, etc), and simply film buffs who want to know more about independent cinema.

FRED wants to convey “the festival experience”. The idea of FRED is to allow all those who cannot be at film festivals to share in the experience as if they were, and to offer more in-depth information and targeted entertainment to those actually there.

This is why FRED’s tagline is the “The Festival Insider”.

We provide news on film premieres, the response of critics and audiences to films and information on films’ production and distribution.

We also supply information connected to productions and co-productions and the advantages of shooting in certain areas, as well as interviews with film festival directors and other key players in the film industry, and interviews with film directors, actors and critics.

Every now and then we broadcast live from film festivals.

All programs and news focus on a single theme, i.e. the world of cinema, film festivals all over the globe and independent cinema.

Any news provided is strictly connected to cinema, and at any given time content will address the film festivals going on at that time, as well as upcoming festivals (there are approximately 2,000 film festivals per year all over the world).

We also have a minority language channel: FRED Sardu in Sardinian language.

However, it is our intention to have many more channels in different languages over time. All our channels – except the 4 specific theme channels – share the same kind of programming.

FRED is centrally managed by seasoned radio professionals, guaranteeing that the highest standards are respected.

We also keep expanding our network of young correspondents attending festivals all over the world. This adds freshness and punch to the rest of our high-quality programming.

Our expert staff train young correspondents to produce content and broadcast professionally from locations all over the world, using state-of-the art technology.

You can tune into FRED online, on FRED.FM, or download the App to your iPhone or Android smartphone. FRED is also available through TuneIn and Reciva.

All contents are available as podcasts in the website and on iTunes Podcast.

FRED INDUSTRY – FRED ‘s mission has always been that of being a film festival radio. So as an obvious consequence, FRED’s focus is and will always be the promotion of art-house and independent cinema.

With this idea in mind, we could not help but adding some film market insights to complete our coverage of the major film festivals through the years.

At some point we realized that we could actually fill a gap by dedicating a channel entirely to the film industry and industry professionals, thus becoming “The Festival Insider” also with an industry perspective.

FRED INDUSTRY was launched in August 2014.

It provides complete coverage of the markets, with news, insights and interviews with the key figures in the film business along with debates and in-depth information about what is happening behind the scenes of both the festival and the cinema industry.

FRED INDUSTRY is a channel dedicated to industry professionals, a new tool for film professionals who could easily listen to updates on what happens at the film markets, using the FRED app on their smartphones or downloading the same contents in podcast.

FRED INDUSTRY had already a number of positive experiences covering the European Film Market, the Cannes Film Market, Business Street in Rome, CineLink at Sarajevo Film Festival, Ventana Sur in Buenos Aires, but also co-production markets like When East Meets West in Trieste.

FRED EDUCATION is the FRED Film Radio channel completely dedicated to film literacy: an audio-platform available to all organizations involved in film education.

We would like to promote film educational content, projects, seminars and events on the subject, offering a network to film literacy organisations interested in spreading content which, in different ways, tackles the subject of film education.

The content can be very diverse, such as education to film direction, cinematography or to the many professions in cinema, but, also to film classics, to film restoration, digitalisation, the use of films as a tool to teach other topics, etc.

FRED EDUCATION is a platform available to any organisation interested in using this channel in order to promote their events/seminars/conferences/projects which can be broadcast in streaming, but will also remain available as podcasts (in the form of audio-clips that can be posted on different websites and social networks).

FRED EDUCATION is also the main channel to promote FRED AT SCHOOL, the film literacy project launched by FRED with 13 European partners, co-financed by Creative Europe. (Please see specific page)

FRED SARDU – A CHALLENGE WITH MINORITY LANGUAGES – In September 2014 FRED launched its first channel dedicated to a European minority language.

FRED SARDU is the first radio channel dedicated to cinema, totally in the Sardinian language.

As technology permeates culture and society becomes ever more reliant on it, minority languages struggle to find their place in the digital world.

Recent reports suggest that less than 5 per cent of the world’s languages are online – and that for the other 95%, the Internet can be a path to extinction or revitalisation.

With this in mind, we are currently thinking of more radio channels in a few endangered languages in order to assist communities with maintaining and revitalising knowledge of their native tongues.

FRED SARDU is our first experience and we hope to repeat it with other minority languages.

This channel is available to all film festivals, all film markets or film related events, interested in making their contents available in remote for those who cannot take part personally.

ENDORSEMENTS/TESTIMONIALS – What the Industry says about us

“I am a great supporter of this new multi-lingual digital platform. It offers film festivals a fantastic international opportunity to promote themselves and their films all over the world.”

Alberto Barbera, Artistic Director, Venice Film Festival

“I’ve followed FRED FILM RADIO from its birth, and its expanding international movie coverage is great news, indeed. It is a unique tool to promote the Film Festival experience.”

Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter

“Thanks to its new channels, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean, FRED contributes to the cultural exchange and understanding between communities, theirs is an important role. Congratulations!”

Kim Dong-ho, Director of Busan International Film Festival, Korea

“I have always believed in the potential of internet radio, especially considering that the trend for the next few years is for communication to become ever more specialized. FRED speaks to the world about our films not only through its European channels, but now also in Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and Arabic.”

Giorgio Gosetti, General Delegate Venice Days

“FRED FILM RADIO is an oasis of genuine film appreciation. It has evolved into a place for discovery of new names and trends in world cinema. The enthusiasm and intelligence of its interviewers is a much-needed boost to the exploratory dialogue in jeopardy on our increasingly fast-paced festival circuit.”

Richard Lormand, International Film Publicity and Marketing Guru, FILM⎮PRESS⎮PLUS

“FRED is a fantastic medium to showcase festivals. They are extremely professional and knowledgeable – our visiting filmmakers have commented highly on the quality of the FRED interviews. We love working with them.”

“As a film festival programmer and organizer, I often tune in to FRED FILM RADIO to get a sense of what’s worth seeing at festivals around the world. It’s a thoughtful platform for film discussion, one that doesn’t hesitate to be analytical about world cinema and the festivals who champion its most promising artists.”

“FRED FILM RADIO is a great idea. I like very much that is available in several languages, and it focus on foreign films, not so mainstream. We need more of that!”

Sandro Fiorin, VP, FiGa Films, Los Angeles

“From niche film festivals to the grandest international film festivals, FRED is on the ground to capture the buzz and record important voices – whatever language they may be speaking – to create an online hub for the international community that reflects the diversity and insights yielded by the festival environment. Through thoughtful interviews and reporting, FRED is a wonderful supporter of films and the industry as a whole, for which I am very grateful.”